Elderly monitoring systems in Singapore: every kind of option, compared

Start with the question, not the gadget

Families usually start shopping with a device in mind: a camera, a button, a watch. A better start is three questions. Who will respond when something is wrong: you, a sibling, a neighbour, an Active Ageing Centre, or nobody nearby? What are you most worried about: a fall, a medical emergency, wandering, or slow decline? And what will your parent accept in their home? The answers narrow the field quickly.

The options at a glance

Prices come from each provider’s pages, checked on 3 November 2026, and can change. The Red Cross no longer publishes a HoME+ monthly price on its website (checked 3 November 2026); an earlier version of its page showed S$48/month, and S$50/month has been reported for HoME+ 2.0. Ask the Red Cross for a quote.

Buttons: the government alert button and the BOP Button

The government’s wireless alert alarm system, often called the Personal Alert Button, is being extended progressively to all HDB public rental households with a senior aged 60 or over. A press connects to CareLine, a 24-hour service run by Changi General Hospital, or to a nearby Active Ageing Centre. The BOP Button is a commercial alternative open to anyone, with its own 24/7 response centre. A press records a 10-second voice message and the centre calls back; it uses the mobile network rather than home Wi-Fi, and the battery lasts up to three years.

Both are excellent at what they do and silent otherwise. They need someone to press, and they say nothing on the days that matter most to a family living apart: the quiet ones. See emergency buttons compared.

Response services: HoME+ and HPC+

Singapore Red Cross HoME+ combines presence sensors, a door sensor and panic buttons with a call centre and around 160 trained community responders who can go to the flat, and SCDF for emergencies. HoME+ 2.0 (October 2025) moved to 3D presence sensors and added a one-way intercom. It needs home Wi-Fi, and the Red Cross says it may not suit people with severe dementia.

Enhanced Home Personal Care (HPC+) is the Ministry of Health’s home care programme, open for enrolment since April 2026. It includes an optional 24/7 fall and movement monitoring and response service, using technology vendors whitelisted by MOH. It is means-tested and subsidised, and aimed at seniors with care needs who are referred by a hospital, polyclinic or GP, or approach AIC or a provider. HDB has also offered optional fall detection packages from commercial vendors to HDB households since April 2024. See the guide to HPC+.

If your parent has nobody nearby who can respond, a service with responders is the right choice. That is the honest limit of Birdhouse, below.

Routine monitoring: Birdhouse

Birdhouse is built for families and Active Ageing Centres who can respond, and want to know sooner. Small motion sensors, an optional door sensor and an SOS button record when and where someone moved, never images or sound. Birdhouse compares the day with the rules for each room and alerts the family when expected activity is missing.

• Rules per room, suggested when each sensor is placed: no movement anywhere for 4 hours in the day, not up by 10am, still in the bathroom after 45 minutes, the front door opening at night, out for more than 12 hours. Each can be changed in plain language.
• Alerts to several people, on Telegram, by email and by iPhone push (the iPhone app is coming to the App Store), with personal quiet hours and escalation until someone acknowledges.
• The ordinary days too: an app that shows “All good”, a daily report at 8am and a weekly report on Mondays.
• Device health: an offline hub or a silent sensor raises its own alert, so a broken device is never mistaken for a quiet day.
• For care organisations: a dashboard of every home and an on-call rota. See monitoring for Active Ageing Centres.

What Birdhouse does not do: it has no manned response centre, does not call 995, does not detect the fall itself, and needs the home’s internet. Basic is S$25/month (hub and one motion sensor), Essential S$30/month (adds a door sensor and SOS button), extra sensors S$5/month each. Detailed comparisons: vs personal alert buttons, vs Red Cross HoME+.

Do-it-yourself: smart-home kits, cameras and watches

• Smart-home sensors. An Aqara hub and motion sensor cost about S$128 in Singapore, about S$180 with a door sensor. Cheapest over time, but you build the alerts, and a flat battery or unplugged hub looks exactly like a quiet day. See Birdhouse vs DIY.
• Cameras. About S$25–60 each. Good for looking, poor at telling you when to look, and many parents dislike them. See cameras for elderly parents.
• Smartwatches. Detect hard falls and can call for help when worn and charged, which often excludes nights and showers. See fall detection devices.
• GPS trackers, for a parent with dementia who wanders. See GPS trackers for dementia.

Which fits your situation

Questions to ask any provider

1. Who receives an alert, and what happens if they do not answer?
2. Does it alert when nothing is pressed and movement stops?
3. What happens when the hub, router or power fails? Will anyone be told?
4. Does it record images or sound? Who can see the data, and is access logged?
5. What does it cost in total, including devices, monthly fees and minimum term?
6. Does it tell you when everything is fine, or only when it is not?
7. How was my parent’s consent recorded?